ACU earns academic honor
2/13/2008 4:00:00 PM | Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
ABILENE -- Abilene Christian, winner of the last two men's NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, has been crowned with another title: the 2007 NCAA Division II USTFCCCA Men's Cross Country All-Academic Team of the Year, announced today by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Abilene Christian, led by senior standout runner, Nicodemus Naimadu, picked up its second cross country national title in November after scoring 59 points in the national meet. Naimadu, a senior from Narok, Kenya, won his fourth NCAA cross country crown, becoming the first cross country runner in NCAA history to win four consecutive cross country titles.
Joining the Wildcats on the All-Academic Team list were 66 other men's Division II institutions including last year's All-Academic Team of the Year, Western State. The Great Lakes Valley Conference had the most member schools on the All-Academic Team list with seven. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference placed six member institutions on the team list while the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, North Central Conference, Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference each had five member schools on the All-Academic Team list.
Impressively, the top five teams (and seven of the top ten) at the 2007 Division II Cross Country National Championships each received the All-Academic Team award. Since 2005, Division II men's cross country institutions have received a total of 190 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team awards.
To be eligible for the honor, teams must list all student-athletes whose names appear on the NCAA eligibility form and who have competed in 50 percent or more of the cross country competitions on the team's schedule. Additionally, the team must compete at the NCAA Division II regional championships and have a team cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
